My new/old baby.
 

I just wanted to say hi and show you my 1st gen acquisition. I also have a FD3S 13B REW that I've shoehorned (successfully) onto a miata, so I'm no stranger to the rotary.
I'm taking the FB apart and refreshing everything. Engine will be re built by me. I'll have questions on seals, porting, etc. I hope I can ask you guys a lot of questions.
My thanks to the admin and members that keep this list going.

Welcome, nice FB. Hows the interior?

HI t_g_farrell.

Interior is very nice and complete. I'd post photos but the car is being worked on. A couple of the guys removing the steering box and column.
Car was always garaged. No stains, scratches or any blemish that I could see.

^Now that's something I'd like to learn more about - always wanted to stick a 13B into a Miata. Do you have this project posted up on a Miata forum somewhere?

Since I'm going to have a spare series 5 13BT to play with soon, the thoughts of picking up an NA/NB Miata as a project car to put it in it has been rattling around in my brain lately!

Hi Pete_89T2.
Actually it wasn't easy. Built a jig to keep everything straight. Cut the Miata to accept the FD front end while still maintaining the OEM Miata fenders. I used almost everything from the RX7, engine, drivetrain, suspension, electricals, even the instrument cluster which I had to mate with the Miata dash. Did all the CF work myself even the CF Sparco CF copies. I have a deal with a local car magazine so I can't show my build thread, 50 or so pages with photos and written logs. Wish I could. But you may see these photos:

I found rare period correct wheels for my FB!!! They need work but I've got a guy that works with magnesium!!

Those are old italian ferrari wheels right? Looks a lot like the mazda limited
editions, so should look right on the car. Good find.

I have a thread about restoring waffle wheels that should apply to those as
well. I'll see if I can dig it up.

T-g_farrell,
Yup! Those are Campangolos in magnesium and very light. Hard to find here. I was lucky. 13s by 6.
Looking fwd to your repair thread. Thanks!

Cantilever suspension in the rear?

Oh my.

Sorry djmtsu...you lost me. What did you mean? About the suspension?

Ahhh. On the miata. It works pretty good. I even tweaked the ratio to about 1:1.25 or somewhere there. The strut travels a bit more than the suspension travel.

Just asking it it's ok to continue the teardown/rebuild of my FB on this thread? Or should I make a totally new thread?

I was amazed at how heavy the doors and hood weighed so I made molds. And then proceeded to make the parts in carbon fiber.

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Here's a finished inner door with the steel window frame being test fit. Found the door to be lighter than the frame with the skin installed. How heavy is this car? Because I'm sure I'll lose a lot of pounds/kilos.

Simple rust issues being tacked by the tinsmith.
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It's alot easier than you think.... They're ALMOST plug and play

You went about it in a VERY odd way. Yours is more of a track car, not a fun little street car.

That's where it stops being easy....

Obviously a ridiculous amount of fab

Why? It would be soooooooooooo much easier to remove all the emmissions related crap from the Miata harness, honestly it unplugs, build a new engine harness and adapt the power to feed it.

I just don't understand that at all. Miata dash would work just fine.

I would like to see all the fab work associated with the suspension and stuff and junk

Nope nope nope nope nope.... been there, done that, no fucking thank you.

Pete... we put an S5 n/a into a Miata in a week at the shop. Used the stock ECU. Harderst part is going the be mounting the engine. If you're serious about the project.... text me. The next big build I do for myself is going to be a 400+ rwhp 13B-RE Exocet

Hi Titanium TT,

Yeah it wasn't easy. Plus all the miata running gear just looked too puny to handle the stock power of the FD. So all the FD running gear had to stay. With that, all the FD suspension went in as well. FD cross member...all the front suspension points still on the cut out chassis mated to the front miata firewall.
The rear was hard. Removed the miata fuel tank because thats where the rear suspension hard points and diff/prop shaft wanted to sit. If I can find my old hard drive I'll post pics.
The stock miata tach didn't go past 7000rpm. The speedo only went to 220 I think. The Apexi ECU was on the donor car so it went in with all the wiring. Had a problem making the wipers work. Lol.
Looking for pics.

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I apologize if there isn't any order to the way I've installed the photos.

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My biggest problem was with the engine. I learned how to take it apart and rebuild it. Had to do it twice.

Do you have any more info on how you did the hinges for the airbag compartment? I removed my airbag and I've been wanting to put hinges on the lid for a while but couldn't think of how to do it.

Speedjunkie.

The hinges were cheap cabinet hinges from a hardware store. I used a pair of RC car shocks/springs I had laying around. I then made my own latch. I even had a jeweler friend make me a tiny mazda wing badge out of white gold with a long straight tiny rod behind it. Hooked that up to the latch mechanism and push it to spring open and shut the airbag cover to lock.
As for the cover itself. Mine is made from fiberglass and balsa wood and lots of epoxy slurry sanded to the shape I liked. Made it fatter using balsa wood to save weight.

Speedjunkie. The cabinet hinges were the type that pull out and extend a bit. I hope that helps.

Interesting, thanks! I bought several different types of cabinet hinges but haven't found any that would work yet. I'm using the outer cover from the airbag so it looks original. I was afraid it would fly off while driving but so far it has stayed in place even during aggressive driving. I get into that compartment more often than I thought I would so it would be nice if the cover hinged open.

Here's what I been doing. The CF doors are getting fitted with the hardware. Body almost ready for paint.

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Test fitting my home made CF doors.

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That's damn cool!

Indeed, very cool! I wish I could have carbon fiber (or even fiberglass) doors for my FC.

Love the Miata.

Thanks for the interest in my carbon fiber doors. Wait'll you see the hood and bumpers.
Meanwhile this is how the rest of the car looks:
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Carbon hood.
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Do you use some type of autoclave in your carbon hardening process?

This! I'd love to know more about your process if you can share it.

Test fitting CF hood.
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Hi almoststockfc and infernosg.
Actually it's just plain old vacuum bagging with the resin infused into the bag under vacuum. Autoclaves are expensive and best used for pre pregnated CF and for major structural load bearing components. Note I live in the hot tropics. Ambient temps are high into the 30+C in my shop so I don't really need the extra heat. The vacuum pressure in the bag is a steady 30 psi. I been doing this for more than 6 years now and I'm still learning. I hope this helps.

Next for molding.
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Removing the 5 mph stuff.
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Stock hood weighs in at 39.5 lbs/18 kilos!!!
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Zoom into the scale. I bet I can get it under 8 kilos with paint.

Hi I need help. I am upgrading an alternator to my 1979 RX7, the alternator I am using is from a 1984 RX7. In the wiring what changes I need to make. In the 1979 I see tree wires clip going to the alternator. In the 1984 alternator it has only two wire clip. As my understanding the 84 alternator has a built-in a voltage regulator. What wire I need to connect?, do I need to remove the voltage regulator from the 79?.that is next to the fender on the drivers side? If you can advise me with better ways to redo the rewiring from the fuse box to the engine, I would like to upgrade all the wires, the previous owner did some changes in the wiring . Right now the car is running with a new rebuilt street port engine, but I am losing power my battery goes dead within couple days, the alternator I am changing is been bench tested. I like to do a simple wiring to the bay engine, I have removed all the vacuums, stripped the Nikki carb to basic use, un less you suggest to use a Holley Car. By do way I have a Racing Beet intake in the car with a stock carb, I also upgraded the distributor to a 1983. If you can help. Is been two years that I am working with the car, sometimes I get frustrated not to have the car running in perfect condition, all the time when I need to start the car I have to use a starting spry otherwise it won’t start the engine, any idea why is doing that?
Sincerely,
Ranita
New subscriber to Rotary Car Club

What does it look like right now?

Hi curious.
I just got it back from another paint shop. Still some issues. A few unrelated problems like having to move my shop 50 meters deeper into the warehouse. I'll be continuing very soon.
Stay tuned.